Durham Light Infantry Museum and Durham Art Gallery

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E-mail

Telephone

03000 266590

All information is drawn from or provided by the venues themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.

The museum tells the proud story of County Durham's own Regiment The Durham Light Infantry from 1758 to 1968, with particular emphasis on WW1 & WW2. The displays focus on the experience of war, using letter & diary extracts, plus the actual voices of DLI WW2 soldiers. Displays also look at life on the Durham Home Front during WW2.For visitors interested in researching family members who served in the DLI, the Regiment's archive is housed at the Durham County Record Office - a few minutes walk from the museum.Upstairs the Durham Art Gallery presents an exciting programme of temporary exhibitions and events from concerts and talks to practical workshops for children and adults. Contact us for a free colour events brochure.Cafe, shop, free parking, attractive landscaped grounds. Fully accessible to all visitors, including those in wheelchairs.

Venue Type:

Museum, Gallery

Opening hours

During school holidays and half-terms: 1030-1600 Tuesday to Sunday.During school term-times: 1030-1600 Wednesday to Sunday.

Discounts

Museums Association

The DLI Museum’s collection not only covers the history of The Durham Light Infantry from 1758 until 1968 but also the Durham Militia, Durham Volunteers & Durham Home Guard. The collection includes uniforms (from full dress to battle dress); equipment; weapons (firearms & edged weapons, plus some ethnographic items from North Africa & New Zealand; medals (over 3,000 on show, including 8 original Victoria Crosses); badges; and other items ranging from a WW1 wooden grave cross to a WW2 Universal Carrier. The extensive Regimental archive is now housed in Durham County Record Office. The catalogue, including scanned photographs, is available on-line on the CRO's website www.durham.gov.uk/recordoffice

Collection details

Archives, Coins and Medals, Costume and Textiles, Land Transport, Personalities, Social History, Weapons and War

Key artists and exhibits

Durham Light Infantry

68th Light Infantry

106th Bombay Light Infantry

Durham Militia

Durham Volunteers

Durham Home Guard

Victoria Cross

John Murray VC

Roland Bradford VC

Richard Annand VC

Adam Wakenshaw VC

Jimmy Durham

Horatio Gordon Robley watercolours

Roger Fenton photographs

Crimean War

New Zealand War

Boer War

Durham Pals

Butte de Warlencourt 1916

Shot at Dawn

Primosole Bridge 1943

Kohima 1944

Korean War

Borneo 1966

Exhibition details are listed below, you may need to scroll down to see them all.

Exhibition (temporary)

Generation NOISE, The Owl Project

31 January — 10 April 2015 *on now

The second in a series of exhibitions specifically aimed at families, sees artists ‘The Owl Project’ build human powered sound machines from wood.

Draw a sound wave and feed it into a machine to create your own noises. The space will be transformed into a huge sound studio where you can play with many kinds of musical instruments.

For more on the Generation Project, visit the Generation Website, www.generationtour.org.uk

Glossary - How and Why Artists Make Prints

"A lot of people think that printmaking is about reproductions. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every print in Glossary is an original. That is to say it doesn't exist in any other form and was conceived and made purely as a print."

'Glossary' celebrates the very best in contemporary printmaking. Each of the twelve prints in this exhibition has been made using a different printmaking process, from potato printing to digital. A series of specially commissioned films complements the exhibition and takes the viewer on a journey through the private studios of the seven represented artists. 'Glossary' is a Northern Print touring exhibition supported by Arts Council England through the Strategic Touring Fund.

Suitable for

Family friendly

Website

Eduardo Paolozzi - General Dynamic F.U.N

31 January — 10 April 2015 *on now

Sir Eduardo Paolozzi (1924–2005) was one of the pioneers of the pop art movement in the UK. Born in Scotland, Paolozzi was a compulsive collector and a jumbler of icons. He is equally revered for his mechanistic sculptures and his kaleidoscopic print projects. The artist, who described himself as 'a wizard in Toytown', transformed the mundane, the derelict and the mass-produced into images that zap with electric eclecticism and impress with their graphic complexity. 'Carrots into pomegranates!'

General Dynamic F.U.N, is a series of fifty screenprints and photolithographs created between 1965 and 1970. Here Paolozzi makes brilliant use of the technologies of mass-reproduction – the household names and familiar faces of consumer advertising, high fashion and Hollywood. The artist's friend and sometime collaborator, J.G. Ballard, described General Dynamic F.U.N as a 'unique guidebook to the electric garden of our minds'.

Suitable for

Website

Events details are listed below. You may need to scroll down or click on headers to see them all. For events that don't have a specific date see the 'Resources' tab above.

Lecture, talk or reading

Life on the Frontline; Current Riflemen reflect on their recent service in Afghanistan

14 March 2015

This talk will bring to life the experiences of a modern Rifleman in their own words and explain the role played by the Army today.

‘Life on the Frontline’ gives a voice to the Riflemen/soldiers behind the headlines of Op Herrick, The British Army’s deployment in Afghanistan. and exploring what it means to serve in The Rifles today from a variety of perspectives. This talk has been arranged with the Rifles Collection.

Our popular talks season returns in February 2015 with monthly talks on a variety of military subjects covering the First World War, local history and 19th century conflicts. All talks are on Saturdays and begin at 2pm.

Suitable for

Not suitable for children

Admission

Tickets, priced £3.50 are available now from the DLI Shop or by calling us on 03000 266590.

Website

Bede Spirit; The Story of 8th Battalion DLI and its only action at Ypres Salient in April 1915

18 April 2015

This talk traces the story of the ‘Bede Company’, 8th Battalion The Durham Light Infantry from its inception as a Volunteer Company of the Regiment until its first and only action at the Battle of Gravenstafel Ridge, Ypres Salient in April 1915.

The Company comprised students and ex – students of the Teacher Training College of the Honourable Bede, Durham City, who went to France with the Durham Brigade of the Northumbrian Division and were quickly involved in the 2nd Battle of Ypres, when the Germans used gas for the first time.

From 1875, on joining the College it was expected that every fit student would join the Volunteer Company – later Territorials – together with, at least one member of the College staff. They undertook the usual Volunteer and Territorial training, attending an annual camp and drills, during their two year teacher training course. On the declaration of war, many of the current students (1912-1914) were joined by ex-students who rushed to join the Company. Without firing a shot in anger, these lads were in action a mere 4 days of arriving in France. It is a story of sacrifice and courage in exceptional circumstances, 100 years ago this month.

Our popular talks season returns in February 2015 with monthly talks on a variety of military subjects covering the First World War, local history and 19th century conflicts. All talks are on Saturdays and begin at 2pm.

Suitable for

Not suitable for children

Admission

Tickets, priced £3.50 are available now from the DLI Shop or by calling us on 03000 266590.

Website

Witton le Wear; the Story of a County Durham village during the Great War

16 May 2015 From 2pm

Life in the village of Witton le Wear 100 years ago, the local servicemen and the stories of some who made the ultimate sacrifice. It also gives an insight into what was it like for the families left behind and village life. The stories of wives, mothers and children as well as how they raised money and items needed for the troops, and also about the local Voluntary Aid Detachment hospital.

Our popular talks season returns in February 2015 with monthly talks on a variety of military subjects covering the First World War, local history and 19th century conflicts. All talks are on Saturdays and begin at 2pm.

Suitable for

Not suitable for children

Admission

Tickets, priced £3.50 are available now from the DLI Shop or by calling us on 03000 266590.

Website

The War Behind the Wire: The Life, Death and Glory of British Prisoners of War, 1914-18

20 June 2015

A talk by John Lewis-Stempel on British prisoners of war during the First World War.

Our popular talks season returns in February 2015 with monthly talks on a variety of military subjects covering the First World War, local history and 19th century conflicts. All talks are on Saturdays and begin at 2pm.

Suitable for

Not suitable for children

Admission

Tickets, priced £3.50 are available now from the DLI Shop or by calling us on 03000 266590.

Website

The Role of the Durham Light Infantry in the Peninsular War

18 July 2015

Mark Thompson returns to the DLI Museum for a look into the DLI's involvement in the early 19th Century conflict.

Our popular talks season returns in February 2015 with monthly talks on a variety of military subjects covering the First World War, local history and 19th century conflicts. All talks are on Saturdays and begin at 2pm.

Suitable for

Not suitable for children

Admission

Tickets, priced £3.50 are available now from the DLI Shop or by calling us on 03000 266590.

Website

A Doctor’s Experience on the Western Front

19 September 2015

Dr. Charles Wilson, a young Medical Officer and his experiences right behind the Front Line at Ypres and the Somme.

In the Great War, Dr. Charles Wilson was a young Medical Officer on the Western Front and he has left us with a vivid description of the personalities and conditions he encountered there. He spent most of his time immediately behind the front lines in areas of great danger and saw action in Flanders, at Ypres and at the Somme, the latter being a particularly important turning point in his outlook on how men faced the ultimate test of courage. In his later career, Dr. Wilson was appointed Churchill's physician and was awarded the title of Lord Moran.

Our popular talks season returns in February 2015 with monthly talks on a variety of military subjects covering the First World War, local history and 19th century conflicts. All talks are on Saturdays and begin at 2pm.

Suitable for

Not suitable for children

Admission

Tickets, priced £3.50 are available now from the DLI Shop or by calling us on 03000 266590.

Website

The Woman Who Didn’t Exist

17 October 2015

The astonishing but true story of Margaret Burns, an ordinary working class woman born in 1889, in Bowburn, County Durham. Much of her early life was spent in the Durham area and it was there she met and married a coal miner. Unfortunately her husband volunteered for Kitchener’s Army and was killed whilst serving with the Durham Light Infantry, near Arras, in 1917.

This led to a dramatic turn of events in which Margaret was forced to make some truly shocking decisions, including becoming the woman who didn’t exist. This gripping tale is guaranteed to arouse a range of emotions and will confirm the adage that truth is definitely stranger than fiction.

Our popular talks season returns in February 2015 with monthly talks on a variety of military subjects covering the First World War, local history and 19th century conflicts. All talks are on Saturdays and begin at 2pm.

Suitable for

Not suitable for children

Admission

Tickets, priced £3.50 are available now from the DLI Shop or by calling us on 03000 266590.

Website

The Development of Tanks During the First World War

14 November 2015

A talk by Stuart Wheeler on the design and development of tanks during World War One and the evolution of tank tactics from September 1916 – November 1918.

Our popular talks season returns in February 2015 with monthly talks on a variety of military subjects covering the First World War, local history and 19th century conflicts. All talks are on Saturdays and begin at 2pm.

Suitable for

Not suitable for children

Admission

Tickets, priced £3.50 are available now from the DLI Shop or by calling us on 03000 266590.

Officials in Durham have announced ambitious plans to regenerate the county by bidding for the new UK City of Culture title, taking on a "fantastic" early rival challenge from confident council chiefs in Birmingham.